Our room cost $129, a discounted special-event rate. The hotel restaurant was being renovated, so in-house dining was in an awkwardly reclaimed part of the lobby. The restaurant is expected to open any day with a new name: Harvest Kitchen.

Our room cost $129, a discounted special-event rate. The hotel restaurant was being renovated, so in-house dining was in an awkwardly reclaimed part of the lobby. The restaurant is expected to open any day with a new name: Harvest Kitchen. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Westlake Village, 38 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, seems farther. It straddles the Ventura County line, its golf courses, man-made lakes and gated estates sprinkled among gentle hills. Some weekend visitors golf. Some loll in the spa at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village or chase immortality at the California Health & Longevity Institute. (David Murdock, the soon-to-be-90 founder of Dole Foods, owns the hotel and institute.) It's a good place to lie low. My wife, daughter and I spent $142 on lodging (one night, including tax) and $150 on meals and snacks at Stonehaus, Mediterraneo, Brent's Deli and the Hyatt dining room. -- Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times